Red Bulls Weekly Update: June 21

RED BULLS RETURN TO ACTION IN KANSAS CITY: The New York Red Bulls look to keep pace atop the Eastern Conference standings when they return to Major League Soccer regular season action for the first time since June 5, paying a visit to the Kansas City Wizards at CommunityAmerica Ballpark on Saturday night (8:30 PM ET, TV: MSG; Radio: WQBU 92.7 FM).

The Red Bulls come into Saturday on the heels of a two match winning streak that saw them reach the top of the Eastern Conference standings alongside the Columbus Crew at 21 points with a 7-5-0 record. After dropping four straight matches, New York rebounded with two victories in their final two matches heading into the recess, a 2-1 victory over the Houston Dynamo on June 2, and a 1-0 win over Chivas USA on June 5. Juan Pablo Angel scored one of the most dramatic goals in club history when his 30-plus yard free kick in the 94th minute gave the Red Bulls a last gasp victory over Houston on June 2 at Red Bull Arena. Just days later on June 5, the Red Bulls picked up three more points when Seth Stammler’s 27th minute goal held up against Chivas USA.

The Kansas City Wizards are currently in fifth place in the Eastern Conference on 12 points after they defeated the Philadelphia Union by a 2-0 score on June 10. Wizards leading scorer Kei Kamara netted his sixth goal of the season in the ninth minute, taking a Davy Arnaud pass and drilling a first-time shot from the top right corner of the 18 yard box, finding the far corner side netting. Kansas City doubled its lead when Ryan Smith set up Graham Zusi, who collected the ball inside the area and finished a far post effort for his first goal of the season. Any hope of a Union comeback was dashed when defender Michael Orozco picked up his second yellow card of the match in the 42nd minute. The Wizards were able to hold on and pick up a much needed victory, their first since April 10.

This will be the 40th time the two original MLS franchises will meet in the regular season. The Red Bulls slightly trail the all-time series vs. Kansas City, going 14-16-9 thus far. In 21 previous matches in Kansas City, the Red Bulls are 6-13-2. Last season, the Red Bulls fell twice to the Wizards, dropping a 1-0 decision on April 23, 2009 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, and again falling 1-0 on September 12, 2009 at Giants Stadium.

RED BULLS DROP FRIENDLY TO CRUZEIRO, 4-2: Two goals from Thiago Ribeiro paced Brazil’s Cruzeiro to a 4-2 victory over the New York Red Bulls in an international friendly at Red Bull Arena on Friday night. Juan Pablo Angel and Conor Chinn tallied the goals for the hosts.

In the 5th minute, Cruzeiro nearly took the lead when Thiago Ribeiro unleashed a shot from about 22 yards out, but the ball sailed just high of Bouna Coundoul’s net. Yet, just two minutes after his first chance, he opened the scoring for the visitors. The Cruzeiro forward received a pass on the left flank, and cut in towards the middle of the park. From just outside the penalty area, the Brazilian fired a low, right footed blast that Coundoul got a piece of, but couldn’t keep out.

The Red Bulls leveled the match in the 32nd minute through Angel. Joel Lindpere sent an in-swinging corner kick towards the back post that defender Chris Albright headed across the face of goal, where Angel guided the ball into the vacant net to tie the score.

Cruzeiro didn’t take long to regain the lead after Angel’s equalizer. From about the halfway line, Jonathan picked out forward Wellington Paulista, who chested the pass down at the top of the box. Wellington Paulista beat defender Mike Petke to free himself in the box before sliding his shot underneath a sprawling Coundoul to give Cruzeiro their second lead of the match in the 35th minute.

Cruzeiro forward Robert nearly extended the lead just minutes before halftime. Cruzeiro midfielder and captain Roger put Robert on goal with a perfect through ball, but the forward’s attempt careened off the far post, keeping the score at 2-1 heading into the break.

The Brazilians extended their lead in the 46th minute, when Thiago Ribeiro delivered a free kick from outside the New York penalty area that found the head of defender Claudio Cacapa, who directed the ball down and past substitute goalkeeper Greg Sutton.

Cruzeiro captured their largest lead of the game in the 51st minute. Wellington Paulista slid a perfect through ball behind the Red Bulls defense, leading Thiago Ribeiro free on goal. Thiago Ribeiro rounded Sutton and easily finished to bring the score to 4-1. New York nearly pulled one back just minutes later, but goalkeeper Rafael denied Angel’s headed attempt at goal.

In the 76th minute, Chinn scored for the Red Bulls to cut Cruzeiro’s lead to 4-2. Midfielder Tony Tchani found forward John Wolyniec down the right flank heading toward goal. Wolyniec crossed the ball low to Chinn, who easily finished into the open net.

BOYENS, NEW ZEALAND ALIVE IN GROUP F: New York Red Bulls defender Andrew Boyens and his New Zealand teammates have an opportunity to advance in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as they currently sit in third place in Group F after two matches. A Winston Reid equalizer on June 15 against Slovakia in second half stoppage time gave the All-Whites a 1-1 draw to open up their World Cup campaign. On June 20, New Zealand picked up another point by shocking defending champion Italy in a 1-1 draw. New Zealand took the lead through Shane Smeltz in the 7th minute before they conceded a penalty in the 29th minute that was converted by Italy’s Vincenzo Iaquinta. Boyens did not appear in either match.

New Zealand next faces Paraguay on June 24, and a win puts the All-Whites in the knockout stage. New Zealand could also advance with a tie, depending on the result of the Italy-Slovakia match.

Boyens, 26, has 13 caps for the New Zealand national team, and competed in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, starting against Spain and South Africa. Boyens has been among the 18-man matchday roster for each of the first seven regular season matches in the 2010 season for coach Hans Backe, but has yet to appear. Boyens has made two starts in the U.S. Open Cup.

LAST WEEK: Red Bulls 2, Cruzeiro 4 on at Red Bull Arena on June 18.

THIS WEEK: Red Bulls at Kansas City Wizards at CommunityAmerica Ballpark on June 26 at 8:30 PM ET (TV: MSG; Radio WQBU 92.7 FM)

ENGLAND WINS CHURCHILL CUP AT RBA: The England Saxons defeated Canada in the championship match of the Churchill Cup rugby tournament on Saturday at Red Bull Arena. England decisively won the match by a score of 38-18, winning the Cup for the fifth time. In the third place match, France A defeated the United States in a close match, 24-10. Russia finished fifth in the tournament, defeating Uruguay 38-19 in the day’s early match. The 2010 Churchill Cup was the first non-soccer event held at Red Bull Arena.

Churchill Cup Background: The Churchill Cup is an alliance between the English Rugby Football Union (RFU), Rugby Canada and USA Rugby. The tournament was launched in 2003 and aims to develop and grow the sport of rugby union across Canada and the USA. It is named after former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who shared close ties with the United States - his mother was American - and with Canada during the Second World War. With support from the International Rugby Board the tournament has grown in success since 2003 when 5,000 people attended to watch the three Alliance nations in Vancouver. Since its introduction, both men's and women's teams from England, USA and Canada have participated although since 2005 it has been a men only event. Invitational sides from Argentina, Ireland, Scotland and New Zealand have all participated, while there was also a women's competition in 2003 and 2004.

RED BULLS TO HOST BRAZIL VS. PORTUGAL VIEWING PARTY AT RED BULL ARENA: On Friday, June 25, Red Bull Arena will show the 2010 FIFA World Cup Group G match between Brazil and Portugal on the video boards inside the arena, as well as in the Bulls’ Corner and Club lounge. The match is slated for a 10:00 AM kickoff. The event is open to the public, and admission is free, but all fans will need a ticket to enter the stadium. Tickets are free and can be secured by CLICKING HERE.

ETHAN ZOHN NAMED AMBASSADOR FOR 2010 NY FOOTBALL CHALLENGE: World Series of Football and Red Bull New York named Ethan Zohn, Survivor Winner and Grassroot Soccer co-founder, a 2010 New York Football Challenge Ambassador. As Ambassador, Zohn will focus his efforts on building a legacy of community service associated with the Tournament. Zohn will work with WSF and the clubs in the tournament to design a community service project that will benefit the New York area for years to come.

The New York Football Challenge will take place from July 22-25 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, NJ. In addition to the Red Bulls, English Premiership giants Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur will participate along with Sporting Club de Portugal (Sporting Lisbon) from Portuguese Liga. Tickets are available by calling 1.877.RBSOCCER or by CLICKING HERE.

After winning Survivor: Africa in 2002, Ethan Zohn co-founded Grassroot Soccer, an international organization that uses Africa's most powerful role models, pro soccer players, to educate youth about the dangers of HIV/AIDS. Since it’s founding, GRS has caught the attention of (and now partners with) Nike Inc., The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, FIFA’s Futbol for Hope, BP/Castrol, The Elton John Foundation, DeBeers and the Kellogg Foundation, and has graduated over 330,000 youth from its program. A former pro soccer player himself, Zohn launched Grassroot Soccer UNITED, a U.S. based awareness campaign, by dribbling a soccer ball 550 miles from Boston, Mass., to Washington D.C. Soon after the Dribble, he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. After a two year battle, he is currently cancer-free. Recently, Zohn was asked to be a global ambassador for Stand Up To Cancer and the LiveStrong Foundation.

In addition, Zohn also keeps himself busy as the national spokesman for America Scores and lends his celebrity to multiple charity organizations, including Colon Cancer Alliance, Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Organization (IREO), St. Jude Hospital, and Maccabi USA. Most recently, he was the host of Earth Tripping, an eco-friendly travel adventure show. Zohn returned to reality-TV as a contestant on Survivor All-Stars, Fear Factor, Eco-Challenge, and hosted two soccer television shows, The MSG Soccer Report and F.C Fox. He was featured in the documentary film A Closer Walk along with The Dalai Lama, Bono and Kofi Annan. Zohn has also starred in campaigns for Nike, Puma and HP, hosted MTV specials and was a sideline reporter for Major League Soccer, USL, MISL and ESPN Radio. Currently, Zohn is a featured columnist for Tonic.com, digital media company dedicated to promoting the good that happens around the world each day.

ANGEL ADDS ANOTHER GOAL: Red Bulls’ all-time leading scorer Juan Pablo Angel added another goal to his tally as he scored the game winner in the 94th minute in the Red Bulls’ 2-1 victory over the Houston Dynamo on June 2.

MATCH TICKETS FOR SECOND HALF ON SALE: Match tickets for the second half of the Red Bulls’ season ware on sale now. Fans can purchase Groups, Family Packs and individual match tickets for all Red Bulls’ matches in August and beyond by calling 1.877.RBSOCCER or by CLICKING HERE. Also, tickets for the New York Football Challenge from July 22-25 featuring the Red Bulls, English Premiership clubs Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur and Portuguese side Sporting Clube de Portugal are on sale to the general public as well.

SOLO FUTBOL AIRS SUNDAY: Red Bulls WADO 1280 AM and 92.7 FM announcers Ernesto Motta and Robert Sierra host their weekly call-in radio show, Solo Futbol, on Sunday night from 8-11 PM on WADO 1280 AM. Motta, Sierra and their panel of experts and guests analyze the Beautiful Game and the New York Red Bulls.